Lügenspiel

Ramsey (Keanu Reeves) defends his teen age client, Mike (Gabriel Basso), who is accused of killing his father Boone Lassiter (Jim Belushi). The problem is that Mike has confessed to killing his father, but won't confide in his lawyer. Oh, oh, this can't be good.

This one will keep you guessing trying to figure out who is lying and Ramsey believes everyone lies. He takes on Janelle (Gugu Mbatha- Raw) a lawyer who is known for her bullshit monitor – she can tell who is lying. So we go round and round trying to figure this all out. Is Mike, the son, protecting his mother Loretta (Rene Zellweger) or is she protecting him? Or is it something else? Inquiring minds want to know.

It's really good courtroom drama, but we just cannot come to a conclusion. Can you?.

Near the end Janelle comes to a conclusion. Will your conclusion be the same or is she wrong? Hmmm……… There is good suspense and the acting is very good all around. Will your conclusion change when Mike does take the stand and talks? Hmmm……...

Is there a twist you ask? Of course there is and it will shock you.

There is suspense, but no real tension. But wait, wait, that tension comes at the very last scene, but then everything fades to black. Sorry. It's over. But now you know. ('bout time) (7/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: Kind of as seen from a distance by a neighbor. Nudity: No. Language: No.

This is a pretty good courtroom drama, maybe not right up there with "Anatomy of a Murder" or "Presumed Innocent", but with enough twists and turns to make it stand out from the crowd.

If the film reminds me of any it is "The Lincoln Lawyer" with Matthew McConaughey.

Without giving too much away, the story involves the murder of Boone Lassiter (John Belushi) a prominent lawyer, and the attempts of another lawyer, Richard Ramsay (Keanu Reeves), to defend the person accused of the murder, Boone's son, Mike Lassiter (Gabriel Basso).

The film has an interesting cast including Renée Zellweger as Loretta Lassiter, Boone's wife. Renée Zellweger is an amazing actress who dissolves into her characters, she does it so well here that I didn't recognise her at first.

Keanu Reeves is fine as Richard Ramsay. I thought his narration was a little heavy-handed at first, but later we see how it helps set the scene for the revelation at the end.

Beautiful Gugu Mbatha-Raw, so memorable in "Belle", is a surprise as a young lawyer overcoming past issues.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but after watching hundreds of crime movies and series on television, I feel that stories with a low murder count often have more weight than serial killer dramas with corpses all over the place. Just look at any of the really good series such as "Wallander", "Jesse Stone" or "Vera" to name three; it's usually only one murder, two at the most, allowing for more complex character and story development. Shows with big murder counts, unless based on real cases, often lead to over-the-top dramas with extreme, unbelievable behaviour.

"The Whole Truth" bears this out. It is tricky with an appealing cast and a classy score by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine, which helps set the mood for this fairly intimate movie, set for the most part in either the courtroom or the bedroom where the murder took place.

It may not raise the bar to the heights of the great courtroom dramas, but "The Whole Truth" gets you in and keeps you there until it delivers a killer blow at the end.

It's nice to see Keanu Reeves in a mature role. He's capable of great subtlety in his acting, and he does a great turn in this movie. Renee Zellweger, likewise. Gugu Mbatha-Raw was terrific, doing a lot with a not very sympathetic character. Actually, everybody did a good job, including Gabriel Basso. It's really Keanu Reeves' movie, though. It was kind of low-key, which I appreciated. I don't like court-room drama novels or movies, and was pleasantly surprised.

Courtroom dramas are interesting and this one is a fine addition. Nothing that fancy or over- stylish, it's basically very straightforward and has a simple style. But, that's OK because it works for this film. It doesn't try to be anything it isn't. The scenarios and the dialogue is all very well handled and thought out. It makes you think twice a few times as well.

Some scenes really work and have great tension and intrigue. Especially whenever there is a court scene. Some aspects would have been nice to have seen explored more like when they explain how to tell if someone is lying when testifying.

Keanu Reeves does a good job here and isn't so stale like some people like to say he usually is. There might be some truth in that for some films, but here you can see that he stepped up his effort. The role was originally set to be played by Daniel Craig, and I can definitely see how his acting style would have worked well for the character. It's a shame he dropped out last minute, but Reeves makes the character his own and you can understand his motivations.

The ending was unexpected and included a strange little twist which the movie could have done without and still worked well and perhaps in some ways been more effective.

The film is interesting if you want a mystery with some turns and it has some captivating courthouse scenes which are in some moments disturbing.

Jim Belushi and Keanu Reeves were both excellent in this film. Great story as well. Well worth the watch.